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Colorado Scenic Byway: San Juan Skyway

Traveling through the dazzling multihued San Juan Mountains and making stops at historic towns of great significance Colorado's San Juan Skyway Scenic and Historic Byway is often considered an essential journey for road trippers, traveling through popular mountain towns like Durango, Silverton, Telluride and Ouray.

ByColorado.com Staff Writer

Updated: 1/5/2015

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In 2012, Travel + Leisure named San Juan Skyway one of "America's Best Spring Drives" for its million-dollar views.

• Situated on the southern edge of the San Juans, the town of Durango was perfectly located for railroad interests. By the 1880s, it had become a train hub and a center of commerce. Walking tours take visitors to see saloons, the Strater Hotel (once catering to railroad barons), the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Depot and historic homes in the Queen Anne, Greek and Spanish Colonial revival styles.

• The canyon-clinging stretch of the byway between Silverton and Ouray is called “The Million Dollar Highway” either because it cost so much to build or the amount of gold ore that remained in the roadway’s fill.

• The historic town of Ouray bears the name of a Tabeguache Ute Indian chief who championed peace and friendship with white settlers in the mid-1800s. Many of the town’s mining-era buildings have been preserved. The Ouray County Historical Museum is housed in the brownstone Miner’s Hospital, which was built in 1887.

Note: Many parts of The Million Dollar Highway have drop-offs that lack guardrails. Check conditions ahead of time by visiting www.cotrip.org or calling the Colorado Department of Transportation at 303-639-1111.